Yoshi's Adventure
by Friendly Floyd
Summary: A Yoshi yearns for adventure, but one day, he gets a little more than he bargained for. When Bowser captures his friends, he is soon involved in events reaching farther than he realizes.  Based on the comic "Super Mario Adventures"
1. Bowser invades, Berry fights back

Author's Disclaimer: Not only do I not own Nintendo or any of its characters, this story is not wholly mine either. This story is actually based on a series of comics, originally ran in Nintendo Power Magazine, then compiled into a single book: "Super Mario Adventures", written by Kentaro Takekuma and illustrated by Charlie Nozawa. I took those events, re-worked them, and added new scenes to provide Yoshi's point of view.

Criticism welcome. MST's encouraged.**  
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* * *

><p><strong>Yoshi's Adventure<strong>

I had always been a little different from the other Yoshis. Ever since I was young, I had wanted to do something exciting, something adventurous. Then again, I'm sure you humans are aware of the saying, "Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it."

My name is Berry. This is my story.

It started like any other ordinary day in the village. Everyone was making their rounds and going about their business. I was chatting with some of my friends and just hanging out.

Then came the warning. "BOWSER! IT'S BOWSER! BOWSER'S COMING!"

Needless to say, this sent everyone into a panic. Even with the warning, no one was prepared for what happened next. Bowser's army overran the village and captured whatever Yoshis they happened upon. Once caught, a sorcerer hypnotized them, and unfortunately, they were easily seduced.

Most watched in horror, but after a while, I couldn't take it anymore. I don't even know what I was thinking at the time, except that I had to free them if I could.

"Hey! Big, green and ugly!" I shouted as I ran towards Bowser. "How would you like it if we _fought back_?"

But I got no further than that. He gestured to the sorcerer, who cast an incantation and zapped me with his wand. Instantly I came to a halt, and I saw nothing but a green-spotted wall in front of me, and all around. He had encased me in an egg.

I didn't want to give up that easily. Not yet. "LET ME OUT OF HERE, YOU OVERGROWN BRUTE!" I beat against the shell, but it was tougher than any surface I knew.

Bowser laughed. "My plan is about to be set in motion! These Yoshis will do just nicely!"

"You have NO IDEA who you're messing with, Bowser! I'll find a way out of here if it's the last thing I do! I'll make you wish you'd never been born!"

All of a sudden, I felt movement. Obviously, Bowser's henchmen were carrying me off to a distant location.

I continued beating against the shell until my fists were sore, and then I sat down and just started crying. I couldn't believe what had just happened. In one fell swoop, everything, everyone I knew was gone; it seemed like I would never see them again, even the ones not captured by Bowser.

I don't know how long it was after they set me down—it must have been hours. After some time, however, I felt movement again. I wondered what was happening. Had Bowser come back for me, or was this someone else?

I heard muffled conversation for a while, and then suddenly, a strange sensation came from the bottom of the egg—it was getting hot!

Just then, the shell began to crack! The heat—it was causing the egg to split open!

A few more cracks, and the shell burst. I jumped out and celebrated, "YES! I'M FREE!"

"WHAT…? IT'S ALIVE!" "IT'S A SOMETHING-ASAURUS!"

I turned and saw two humans in blue overalls. One had a red cap (with an "M" on the front) and shirt, and the other had green (with an "L" on the cap). Both also had very distinct mustaches.

"I don't like the way it's looking at us," said the one in red.

"Our dinner is about to dine on us!" said the green one.

It was true, I was looking at them a bit hungrily. I had been trapped in that egg for quite a while, and we Yoshis were not usually picky eaters.

"This is not what I _eggspected_!" wailed the one in green.

Puns! That did it—I hated puns! I stepped towards them.

In a few seconds, they were up and running. They were surprisingly fast; I almost had trouble keeping up with them, and we Yoshis are really quick.

After some chasing, the green one stopped running. "_Huff, huff…_ I can't run another step…" he panted.

It was time to see how these guys tasted. I stuck out my long tongue and licked him.

"DON'T EAT ME!" he yelled. "_HELP!_" And he took off. Couldn't run another step, huh?

"Ptoo!" I don't know if it was just the overalls, but he tasted _awful!_ I began to have second thoughts about eating them.

"Luigi!" called the red one. "Over here!"

Luigi ran over to where the red one was in the bushes and jumped in. "_Whew!_ That was a close one! …wha…?"

It seemed that Luigi had landed right on a Wiggler, which then began walking.

"A KING-SIZED CATERPILLER! _YIKES!_"

"Hang on, Weege!" yelled the red one. He jumped up and landed square on the head of the Wiggler.

Bad move. Wigglers are easily irritated, and this unquestionably upset it. It turned red and started chasing the two.

This was my chance! Not only would I be able to save the two humans, but the Wiggler would make a great meal! I ran towards them.

Seeing me, the humans halted, frightened. "A centipede sandwich…" "or a dinosaur dinner! We're done for! You've been a good brother, Mario…"

As soon as the Wiggler was in range, I shot out my tongue and attempted to pull it into my mouth. The angered Wiggler resisted, and a fight ensued. Eventually, though, I was able to eat the entire Wiggler.

"Aah! That hit the spot!" I then noticed the humans were gone. I looked around, and saw them trying to tip-toe away. "Hey! You! Wait!" I called.

They turned and panicked. "Don't look now, but…" "He's after us!"

"No! No! It's okay!" I said. "That Wiggler already satiated me. I just wanted to thank you for saving me!"

"Please don't eat me!" they pleaded. "Plumbers taste terrible, you know!"

"I'm not going to eat you!" I told them. "Besides, you're right: you do taste terrible."

"Listen," said Mario. "He sounds kind of friendly."

"Of course I'm friendly! Listen, maybe you can help me. Why don't I take you back to my village?"

"…I think he likes us."

At that point I realized they didn't understand a word I was saying; after all, I was speaking in my native Yoshi language. Unfortunately, while I understood their language, I couldn't speak it myself.

I turned my back and gestured. "Here, hop on my back."

"You want us to hop on?"

At least they understood that. Once they were safely mounted, I took off for the village at top speed.

* * *

><p>In almost no time at all, we had arrived at Yoshi Village. Most everyone there greeted me excitedly. "Berry! You're back!" "Welcome back home, Berry!"<p>

"I hope they're not discussing ways to cook us," said Luigi nervously.

"Chill out, Weege," said Mario. I just chuckled.

I noticed someone up ahead, and I recognized him. _Maybe he can help, too,_ I thought, so I pulled the brothers up next to him.

He noticed me and my passengers, and came towards us. "Well, howdy, strangers! Haven't seen you in these parts before."

"Who are you?" asked Mario.

"Why, I'm Friendly Floyd. Need a toothbrush? Lightbulb? Electronic ignition for your car? You name it, I've got it!"

"Sorry, we're not here to shop, Floyd."

Friendly Floyd was a traveling salesman, and very dedicated to his work. Also, he happened to be a good friend of the Yoshis.

"Where is 'here', anyway?" Mario wanted to know.

"This fine little burg is Yoshi Village," Floyd told him. "My pal here, Yoshi, is the chairman of the Dino Chamber of Commerce."

(I still don't know why he kept calling me just "Yoshi", since I'd told him my name so many times.)

Luigi asked, "Why was the D.C. chairman trapped inside an egg?"

"Oh, that's right!" I said. "Floyd, let me tell you something…" I then told him of the events that had transpired earlier, which he then related to the brothers.

They were none too pleased to hear the news. "That Koopa will stop at nothing!" "What a brute!"

"Yesirree, the whole affair's been bad for business," said Floyd. "Say, how about helping me out—I'll give you a great deal, and the merchandise is a-number-one, guaranteed first quality."

"What we need is an interpreter," Mario said.

"Sorry, pal, I can't hang around," Floyd answered. "Time is money, you know. But I might have just the ticket," he said brightly, whipping out a book. "_Acme's Yoshi Language Learner_, complete with step-by-step instructions. Only 3,000 coins!"

"**3,000!** What a rip off!"

"Did I say 3,000? Make that 10 coins, since you're friends of Yoshi," Floyd relented.

"That's better," said Mario. "We'll take it!" He gave Floyd the coins, and Floyd handed over the book.

Floyd then packed up his stuff and started to leave. "I've gotta run," he called. "Don't take any wooden coins!" With that, he was gone.

"Let's get started," said Mario, and began looking at the book.

"First, look up how to ask about finding a princess," Luigi suggested.

I wish I could have told them that I could understand them just fine, but it would have been no use.

All of a sudden, Mario blew his top; he flung the book away and shouted, "WAIT 'TIL I GET MY HANDS ON THAT FRIENDLY FLOYD!" Apparently, the book was too hard to understand. I could imagine why, since most of our words do sound very similar to each other to the untrained ear.

Suddenly, there was a commotion; the Yoshis started to gather. It seemed like…

"Look! Someone's coming!"

The crowd seemed to be following what looked like a walking mushroom! He seemed very weak, barely able to stand himself with his staff.

The brothers seemed to know him. "The princess' guard!" They ran toward him just in time to catch him falling. "Are you okay? Speak to us!"

At length, he coughed out, "It's the p-p-princess…"

"Princess! What happened?"

"Bowser's got her!"

_Bowser?_ This was worse than I thought! We now truly had a common enemy.


	2. Bowser's Castle

Fortunately, Toad (the name of the mushroom guy) recovered, and he was able to lead us to Bowser's castle. The castle was actually a large tower on its own island, surrounded by a moat.

"So that's where they're holding her!" said Mario.

"I saw them take her in," Toad told us.

Luigi looked across and remarked, "We'll need a boat to cross the moat."

"Who needs a boat?" said Mario, and dashed forward. "C'mon, let's swim!"

"I can't swim!" Luigi yelled.

Mario just dived right in…and then jumped right back out. "PIRANHAS! EEEK!"

Taking a closer look, we saw that the water was infested with enemies. There'd be little chance of swimming across safely.

"On to plan B…" "Code name: survival."

We started walking to see if we could find another way to the castle. Along the way, I munched on the fruits on the trees, to keep up some energy.

"How far is it around this moat?" said Luigi.

"We'll take a break soon," said Mario.

It was then they noticed someone. "Can it be?" "I don't believe my eyes!"

It was Friendly Floyd! It looked like he was trying to sell some lipstick to a Piranha Plant. (Like I said, he was a devoted salesman; even though friend to the Yoshis, he attempted to sell to friend and foe alike.)

"Maybe we can get a refund for that Yoshi book," Luigi mused.

Mario just grumbled, "Let's just scram before he can pull another scam," and started to continue on.

"How about that break, bro?" said Luigi wearily, sitting down.

Mario looked, and was shocked at just _what_ Luigi was sitting on: a cannon! He dashed toward him, and knocked Luigi off.

Just then, the cannon went off! Luckily, Mario caught hold of the Bullet Bill, and launched away. "This must be the Koopa Express!"

"Mario! Wait for me!" Luigi called. However, no more Bullet Bills fired from the cannon. All we could do was watch Mario fly off.

A little while later, we noticed something flying _from_ the castle. "That bird looks sort of like the princess…" remarked Luigi. Then he realized, "It _is_ the princess!"

However she was flying, she had apparently lost control. "Clear the runway!" she shrieked. "I'm coming in!"

She sailed right over us and crash-landed behind us in the trees. We rushed over to her. "Are you O.K.?"

She certainly looked like a princess, with a pretty pink dress and golden crown. Unfortunately, she didn't look well either.

"She's out cold!" Luigi wailed. "What should I do?"

"Look!" called Toad suddenly.

We looked, and saw a boat approaching us. Once it came ashore, two mechanical Bowser-looking contraptions sprang up and walked towards us, toting a Mario doll.

"Greetings from the Koopa King," they said. "He is holding Mario. If you want him back, you must give us the princess. If you fail to put her in this boat, your brother will pay." Here, they set fire to the Mario doll.

"Poor Mario!"

"That's blackmail!" said Toad indignantly.

"What can we do?" Luigi wondered.

"Howdy, howdy, howdy!" Friendly Floyd was stepping towards us. "Did you like the book?" He didn't wait for an answer. He opened his suitcase and started his pitch—a strange one at that. "Our new miracle makeup kit could turn a frog into a prince!"

"_Do I look like a need a makeover?_" shouted Luigi.

A little taken aback, Floyd insisted, "C'mon—create a new you!"

"New me?" Luigi retorted. "I need a miracle!" But just then, Luigi got this strange look in his eye—he seemed to be forming a plan.

He placed the princess on my back, then told the Mecha Koopas, "Er, could you excuse us? We'll be right back!"

"Do not be long! Bowser is waiting!"

Luigi directed us to regroup behind the trees. "Follow me, Floyd. And bring that kit."

Once there, he outlined his plan: he would switch costumes with the princess and use the makeup to make himself look like the princess and infiltrate the castle. He would try to free Mario himself, but if need be, he would call on us.

Once the switch was complete, the disguised Luigi went back to the Mecha Koopas and rode the boat to the castle. We stayed behind to look after the princess.

* * *

><p>It was a while before the princess woke up, but she finally did—out of a nightmare, it seemed. "EEEEK! NOT BOWSER! …Huh?... <em>Whew!<em> What a nightmare!"

"Oh, good!" I said. "You're awake!"

She turned…and then ran off scared. "ACKKK! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

I sighed. Why was everyone running from me? I thought I was supposed to have a cute appearance.

The princess kept running until she smacked into Friendly Floyd. "Well, hello to you, too!" he said cheerily.

She paused…then ran again. "EEEK! HELP!"

"Wait!" Floyd called. "You haven't seen my new line of makeup!"

Toad noticed the commotion, and came over. "Princess! Are you all right?"

She stopped running. "Finally!" she breathed. "A familiar face!

"It's all coming back to me… I fell from the tower and started flying with a cape—then something zinged past me… it looked like Mario!

"**Mario!** Egad!" She gripped Toad. "What happened to Mario?"

"He crash-landed at the castle!"

"_What?_ Bowser's holding Mario? How dare he!" She rushed off.

Toad called, "Princess! Where…?"

"I'll be back," she replied, "with Mario!"

"Wait!" Toad yelled. "You'll spoil Luigi's plan!"

The princess then stopped…and then noticed her outfit. "Whoaa! Overalls aren't my style!"

Eventually, Toad sat the princess down and explained the situation to her.

"So that's it, huh? I don't know, it sounds risky," she remarked when he finished. "I mean, isn't there some way we could prepare ourselves?"

"I might have just the thing!" Friendly Floyd exclaimed. He then produced a few bombs! "High quality explosives, and reasonably priced, too!"

"How reasonable?"

The princess was quite the haggler, but they eventually struck a deal.

Just then, the phone rang. Toad answered, talked awhile, then hung up. "We have a delivery to make!" he announced.

Apparently Luigi had ordered "pizza" for the Koopalings. We'd make sure they'd get a different kind of meal.


	3. Mario rescued

Once we packaged the bombs, Floyd, and the princess into a large pizza crate and donned our delivery costumes, we were ready. We signaled to the castle, and they let us cross on the boat.

"Here's your order, piping hot!" Toad announced.

"YAHOO! It's a pizza party!" "Yummmm! I can't wait!"

Drooling in anticipation, the Koopalings opened the box.

"SPECIAL DELIVERY!" shouted the princess, springing out and brandishing one of the bombs. "Free Mario—or get blown to bits!"

"WHA…? Princess Toadstool?" The Koopa Kids were shocked beyond belief. They did double-takes and triple-takes. "Two of them? Am I seeing double?" "Double trouble! Which one is real?"

Luigi decided to let the cat out of the bag; he pulled off his mask, revealing his face.

The Koopalings, realizing the trick, got ready to spring forward for an attack.

But the princess had other plans. She struck a match and warned, "Keep back, brat pack! Or it's bombs away!"

However, Wendy (the spoiled daughter of the bunch) said, "You're bluffing! You'll go down—or should I say, up—with the rest of us if you light that fuse!"

The princess looked nervous now. Had she not thought about that part?

"Go ahead," Wendy taunted. "What are you waiting for?"

It was then that Luigi noticed the keys being held by another Koopa Kid, Morton. He tip-toed up to him, then grabbed the keys and dashed off.

Morton was startled, then ran after him. "You princess impersonator!"

Before Morton caught him, however, Luigi jumped up—and smacked into the ceiling. "Low overhead," he mumbled as he dropped the keys.

Toad shot forward, snagged the keys, and took off.

"Come back here, you shrimpy shroom!" The Koopalings gave chase.

"Go long, Yoshster!" Toad threw the keys towards me.

With precision I caught them on the tip of my tongue. "_Yoshi!_ Here I go!"

"Idiots! Stop him!" I flew around the room like a gazelle, easily evading capture. "You're getting on my nerves!"

Unbeknown to the Koopas, Luigi was hiding behind one of the pillars. I ran past him and handed the keys off. Once in hand, he rushed off to try and unlock Mario's cell.

The Koopa Kids kept chasing me, thinking I still had the keys. "STOP!"

I was running straight toward a wall. At the last second, I turned away, allowing the Koopalings to crash into it. "I think I broke something…" one moaned.

Friendly Floyd was quickly on the scene. "Not to worry! I have a special rate on Koopa crisis kits. My price is low, low, low!"

"_Save the sales pitch, Floyd!_" the princess shrieked.

I kept tearing around the room, trying to entice more Koopa Kids. Unfortunately, Wendy had another idea. The dirty little Koopa tripped me up! I slammed headlong into the others.

"Stay right there!" Wendy yanked on a nearby rope.

A trapdoor opened above us, revealing a ton of Thwomps. We were flattened like pancakes.

"And behind door number 2…" Wendy pulled on another rope.

A door opened, and a bunch of football linebackers came running out.

"Charge 'em, Chucks!" Wendy ordered. "Show no mercy!"

But the princess had apparently had enough. She brought the match forward again. "You blitz, and I'll bomb! I mean it!"

"And your princess pedestal will be Koopa kindling," Wendy countered.

The princess just grinned. "It'll be a small price to pay to kick your Koopa keesters!"

Wendy wasn't buying it. "You're bluffing!"

The princess giggled, "My sacrifice will be worth it. And, as always, good will triumph over cruel Koopa-dom!"

"You're off your royal rocker!" Wendy yelled.

Suddenly, Luigi and Mario came plowing through the charging Chucks! "To the rescue! Even chains can't hold mighty Mario!"

Now Wendy was ticked (along with the other Koopa Kids). They all jumped on a huge rope and yanked on it. "Have a nice _trip!_ See you next _fall!_"

This time a trapdoor opened beneath us, and we fell screaming into the basement.

After a very rough landing, we tried to get our bearings. "Princess! Are you O.K.?" asked Mario. "Where are we?" asked Luigi.

Just then, we heard a sound. We looked over, and got the shock of our life.

"REZNORS!" We started to run from the fire-breathing dinosaurs as fast as we…

Wait…fire breathing? "The fuse!" Not a good combination!

In seconds, the explosion launched us clear of the castle. We landed on the far side of the moat.

Fortunately, we were able to get up fairly quickly. We looked across to the castle, which was now in ruins. With good reason, we started to celebrate. "We made it! And Bowser is blown to bits!"

Mario just muttered, "I can't believe they pulled it off without my direction."

The princess then turned to Luigi. "O.K. Luigi, give me back my gown."

"I don't know," said Luigi coyly, "I'm beginning to like it."

But the princess insisted, so Luigi complied, changing costumes back.

Floyd was still a bit singed, but he was overjoyed about his product. "Like I said, my bombs are the best money can buy! Restock now! And buy in bulk—they're cheaper by the dozen."

"We won't be needing any more bombs now," Mario told him.

"Well, if you're not buying, I'd better be flying. I have pots to peddle, vicegrips to vend!" And he was off. As I said, he was a man on a mission.

We started cheering again. "Koopa's conquered! The kingdom is safe at last!"

"And we rescued Mario, to boot!" the princess added.

"Thanks to you, princess," Mario conceded.

Luigi suggested, "What do you say we do lunch back at the castle?"

"Yeah! Mushroom Kingdom, here we come!"

It sure was an adventure! And it felt good to finally defeat Bowser and restore peace to the—

"_**WAIT!**_ This adventure isn't a done deal yet!" Mario realized.

"What do you mean?"

"We didn't exactly drive here on the Koopa Expressway!" he reminded them.

"Oh yeah… we warped here through that pipe," the princess remembered, and indicated a pipe stuck upside-down in the clouds.

"…Way up there," continued Mario. "I think we need an alternate route."

"OH NOOO! WE'RE STUCK HERE _**FOREVER!**_"

"Keep your crown on," said Toad. "I have an idea. You still have that flying cape, don't you, princess?"

Here, he was referring to the yellow sheet the princess had used to escape Bowser's castle earlier.

"Sure," she answered, "but there's one of it and lots of us!"

"I'll fly home, then I'll send a rescue party for you!" he told them.

"Excellent idea, Toad!" they exclaimed. "Go for it!"

Toad secured the cape, and flew up toward the pipe.

"We're counting on you!" the others called. "Don't crash!"

There was nothing to do now but wait.

It took several minutes, but finally, Mario noticed something. "The pipe! Look!"

Indeed, something was dangling from the pipe. It seemed to be a ladder. Then, more mushroom-like beings came down. It was clear what was happening.

"OUR RESCUE TEAM!"

"At your service," they said when they touched down. "Watch your step."

Everyone cheered as they climbed onto the ladder. "I'm glad this adventure's over!" said Luigi. "That makes two of us!" seconded Mario.

On the ground, I waved them off. But as they made their way up, I got a strange feeling that something wasn't quite right.

In a few more seconds, my suspicions were confirmed. One of the mushrooms kicked Mario down the ladder, then sliced it with a dagger! Mario and Luigi fell, leaving the princess still clinging on. "What's going on here?" she wanted to know.

Just then, Bowser appeared! "BWA HA HA!" he laughed. "My sinister plot worked! You didn't really think I'd let you go so easily, did you?" With that, he pulled her up through the pipe.

The surrounding cloud dissipated, revealing a flying compartment of some sort. Through a window, I could see the princess and Toad held captive by the Koopas, who were removing their mushroom costumes.

I could barely contain my anger. Those fiends! What a rotten trick! How could they do this to us?

Bowser's voice came on over a loudspeaker. "Ha ha ha! You'll have to excuse me—I have a wedding waiting! Ciao!"

"No! Princess!" "That creepy Koopa!" "Come back here!"

Suddenly, Koopas began to rain from the pipe. However, the brothers were quick to spring into action. Mario punched, kicked, and jumped all around, clearing away all he could. "That'll teach you to mess with the Mario Bros.!"

Luigi was having a harder time, so I decided to help him out. I began slurping up any and all Koopas I could with my tongue.

"He's a bottomless pit—lucky for us!" Luigi commented.

This was true. Even when satiated, our bellies could hold a lot of food. I was even having a little fun.

When I munched on an especially tasty blue shell, I felt a peculiar sensation—and I started hovering above the ground!

"Egad! Mario, look!" Luigi shouted. "He sprouted wings when he ate that blue shell!"

Wings, eh? This should be extremely useful!

Luigi hopped on my back. "I'm flying!"

"Hey!" Mario called. "Wait for me!" He jumped on as well. "All aboard the Yoshi Express!"

The brothers continued attacking the Koopas as I flew on. "Follow that Koopa copter!" Mario ordered me, and I did my best to do so.

However, it seemed to have flown out of sight. "Drat! Which way did he go?"

"Luigi, are you sure this is the right direction?" asked Mario.

"I'm not positive," he said hesitantly.

"Oh, brother! We're lost!" shouted Mario, frustrated. "Yoshi! Which way did he go?"

"I think he went that way!" I said, indicating.

Bad move. When I spoke, I spat out the shell. No shell, no wings. No wings, no flight. We plummeted back to earth.

Mario, dazed, said, "Luigi…did we make it? Where are we?"

"Don't ask me!"

Mario looked around, then noticed something. "Holy rigatoni!" He got up and pointed to a spooky-looking house. "Look! I wonder if anybody's home…"

"I don't see any lights on…" Luigi remarked.

"Mama mia, what a peculiar pad!"

"Maybe it's someone's vacation retreat," said Luigi. "And I think we're due for a little vacation ourselves. Let's see if we can rest here."

With nothing else to go on, we walked up to the house. Mario banged on the door. No answer.

"It looks like no one's home," he said.

"Then we'll have the place to ourselves," Luigi said. "C'mon." He opened the door, which creaked. He started to walk in, but Mario grabbed his clothes, stopping him.

"_Wait!_ Don't go in!"

"Hey! Take it easy on the overalls!"

"I'm telling you, Weege, I have a weird feeling about this…"

"Come on, Mario! What could it hurt?"

"Wait, Luigi. We may be tired, lost and worst of all, hungry, but we must keep our wits about us. There's something strange about this place…my gut feeling is that it's a trap! C'mon—let's get out of here!"

With that, Mario turned to go. Sensing something as well, I followed.

Luigi just stood, unsure. Mario insisted, "Hurry, Luigi! Let's go…**now!**"

"You're just being paranoid!"

"You don't understand," Mario said. "It's just like a mouse trap. The inviting smell of cheese lures the mouse in, and _**bang!**_"

Just then, a strange scent was in the air. "Speaking of cheese, that smells like a fine provolone!"

"I just can't resist that aroma!" Luigi squealed, and ran in.

"_**No!**_ Luigi, come back here!" Mario leapt on my back, and I rushed after him, ignoring my fears.

Unfortunately, for some reason my frame wouldn't fit through the door. Mario was flung from my back into the house.

Suddenly a metal door was coming down—right on my head! I snapped back at the last second.

"NO! MARIO!" He was trapped!

"This is a fine mess—now we're locked in!" I heard him say. He started banging on his side. I could do nothing myself.

Eventually, the knocking stopped. Then I heard, "Yoshi! If you can hear me, I'm going to go ahead and look for Luigi. Just wait there. Don't worry about us—we'll find a way out of here!" Then…nothing.

I trod slowly out to the yard and lay down. I hoped and prayed to the stars that Mario was right, and that they would return safely. I cried myself to sleep.


	4. Wedding crashers

I was awakened by the sound of footsteps. Not daring to believe, I turned my head…and saw them. "Mario! Luigi! You're—" Then I noticed something else.

Both brothers were wearing doctor's outfits, and a number of ghosts (which I knew were called Boos) were following them. Yet somehow, the Boos didn't look threatening. Was this…some kind of dream?

Mario cheerfully said, "What a glorious day!" Then the biggest Boo got his attention. "Excuse me? Oh, you're welcome! I'm glad I could help. If you really want to thank me, tell me how to get to Bowser's castle. I want to tell the Koopa King about this wonderful universe, too."

By this time I was really weirded out, and seriously considering this to be some strange dream.

The brothers waved goodbye to the Boos, and the Boos went back into the house.

After waiting a while, Mario asked, "Are they still out there?"

Luigi stole a glance. "No, they're all gone!"

"Then there's no time to waste!" Mario shouted, and he and Luigi tossed their doctor costumes, revealing their original overalls.

Now I understood: It was all a ruse! Somehow, the brothers had coaxed the Boos into submission using psychology. These guys were really clever!

Once back in proper attire, they jumped on my back. "C'mon, Yoshi! Let's save that princess!"

"HI HO YOSHI!" We were off to finish Bowser once and for all!

* * *

><p>When we arrived at the castle, we found it to be bustling with activity. "Wow," Mario remarked, "security is tight…"<p>

Indeed, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to penetrate the guests and guards that littered the courtyard.

"Mario!" Luigi called suddenly. "I think this pipe is plumbed all the way to the castle!"

We went over and studied the pipe for a while. "Hmmm, it looks risky…" Mario mused. "…But it's our only chance! LET'S GO!" So we all jumped in.

It was a very long trek along the horizontal pipe, and it seemed to get warmer with every step.

"It sure is hot in here!" Luigi panted.

"No sweat," said Mario. "We must be near the end."

Eventually, we saw light at the end, so we hurried on—then came to a sudden stop, almost too late. "Uh oh. I think we picked the wrong pipe!"

"A sea of lava! We're fried!" The entire room was filled with molten magma! Had we ended up inside a volcano? What kind of place was this, anyway? "What do we do now?"

Looking around, Mario noticed some raised ground platforms. He jumped for one, and we followed his lead.

Whoops! A Thwomp was coming down fast! We scampered in separate ways to safe ground.

"Are you okay, bro?" Mario asked.

"Yeah," Luigi answered, "but don't look down!"

"Wha…?" But he did, and he was shocked to discover he had unwittingly jumped on a live Blargg! Quickly, he made his way across the others, narrowly avoiding some of the open mouths. (Fortunately, Blarggs are relatively slow creatures.) He eventually reached another pipe at the end.

"Mario!" Luigi called. "Wait for me!"

Quick as we could, we hopped across to follow him. Unfortunately, we must have taken a wrong turn inside the pipe. We emerged into an underground cavern, and Mario was nowhere to be seen. With no other course of action, we started walking forward, calling for Luigi's brother. "Mario! Mario, where are you?"

Eventually, we reached an expanse…and that expanse was filled with spotted eggs!

"Whoa!" Luigi shivered. "That's creepy!"

"FLYING FRUITS! LUIGI, THESE ARE MY FRIENDS!" I screamed.

"Slow down!" Luigi shouted. "Where's Friendly Floyd's dictionary when I need it?"

"Listen to me, Luigi!" I continued. "My fellow Yoshis are trapped inside these eggs!"

Luigi just gave me a blank stare.

"The eggs, silly, the eggs!" I insisted, and pointed.

This time he took the hint. "The eggs? What about the eggs?" As he looked, he gained a thoughtful look. "Hmmm, these eggs do look kind of familiar… wait… I get it! Other Yoshis are trapped in these eggs!"

"Yes! You've got it!"

Now we just had to free them. In a fit of emotion, I tore one of the stalagmites from the ground, and whacked one of the eggs with it.

It cracked open, revealing another green Yoshi. Seeing me, he recognized me. "Berry!"

I recognized him as well! "Kiwi!"

Luigi followed my lead, grabbing a stalagmite of his own. "C'mon—let's get cracking!"

So we got to work, whacking at eggs left and right, until each and every Yoshi was freed.

"I'm so happy to see you guys again!" I said.

"I almost can't believe it," said one. "You've saved all of us!"

"Yeah, way to go, Berry!"

"Hey, we can catch up later," I told them. "Right now, we've got work to do." I had noticed an exit leading into one of the castle's rooms. I turned to it and motioned the others to follow. "Come on! We have to get to Mario!"

We rushed forward, and in no time entered the castle proper. The guards were surprised, to be sure, and were no match against our collective might. Room after room we traversed, until finally we found the main hall.

The hall was decked out for what seemed to be a wedding. Bowser was the groom, and the princess was the bride. But why would she ever marry him? Then I noticed—she was in some kind of trance!

I then saw Mario—he was tied to a pole, unable to help.

Well, if we had any say, this wedding would never take place. Luigi jumped on my back to lead the assault. "CHARGE!" he ordered. "Let's _crash_ this wedding!" We all rushed forward.

When Bowser saw us, he panicked. "AAACK! They've escaped! Fall in, Troopas!" More guards rushed us, but we took care of them just as easily.

Bowser, in desperation, turned once again to the sorcerer. The sorcerer moved into position, and readied a spell.

"OH, NO YOU DON'T!" I ordered some of the Yoshis to go after him. Thankfully, they took care of him before he could fire off another spell.

Once the magician was out of commission, the princess came out of her trance. "What…happened to me?" she wondered in a daze.

Mario was overjoyed. "Princess! You've come to your senses!" The princess set to work untying Mario.

Once free, Mario caught Bowser trying to escape in another of his Koopa copters. "You're not getting away!" he promised, and used his rope as a lasso to snag the copter.

The copter flew out of control into the huge cake, and Bowser was tossed inside.

"Eat cake, shell scum!" Mario jumped towards the top to be ready.

"Now, my fellow Yoshis," I announced, "_to the feast!_"

They marched forward and began eating as much of the cake as possible. However, they never got to Bowser himself; I watched as he popped up on the top of the cake. There, he saw Mario. "What? You again!"

"The party's over, Bowser!"

Bowser charged him. "Not until the princess and I are wed!"

Mario simply stepped aside, allowing the Koopa King to splat into another part of the cake.

That action caused the weakened cake to start swaying. With all the Yoshis had eaten, it wouldn't stand for much longer.

"Jump, Mario!" Luigi warned. "The cake's collapsing!"

"Yikes!" He hopped down as fast as he could.

Within seconds, the cake came crashing down, smothering the Koopa King Bowser.

"He got his just desserts!" Luigi quipped.

"Koopa's conquered, the princess is saved…" Mario ruminated, "piece o' cake."

"Oh, Mario," the princess sighed. "Thank you!" And she gave him a well-earned kiss.

And that was that. The Koopa King's insidious plans failed, Princess Toadstool, Mario, and Luigi returned to the Mushroom Kingdom for a well-deserved rest, and my fellow Yoshis were finally freed. I also returned home, having had enough adventure for one day. In fact, it would be a while before we Yoshis were involved in another adventure, but…well, that's another story for another time.

**The End**


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